In My Heart, In My Veins
by Vanessa S. Quest
Summary: This is special, I warn you now. Torture, ConYuu, YuuRam. It starts heavy with YuuRam, may I ASSURE you it doesn't stay that way. I'm pro ConYuu Wolf takes Yuri on a date only for things to turn sour. A horse dies, so if you're a PETA-type, no read.


In My Heart, In My Veins by Vanessa S. Quest

A/N: Not for too much of a spoiler, but PAIRINGS in this story is CONYUU and YUURAM, yes, both are in here, yes, it takes a while to get to the ConYuu. But I assure you it's in here! ; So don't lose hope. Also, R & R Please.

The morning sky predicted a slightly overcast day as Wolfram and Conrad had started cutting in.

"Wolfram, be reasonable, I can't just allow Heika to ride unescorted."

"And I'm telling you I'm more than enough of an 'escort' for Yuri! You always tag along, what do you think you are our chaperone? We're engaged! So just butt OUT!"

"It's dangerous to just go by yourselves and it's irresponsible of such a concerned _fiancé_ to not consider the health and well-being of…"

"I am more than proficient enough for a horseback excursion; you're just trying to trample in on our date! We're not in hostile territories so what's the problem? Huh? Do you have some startling love confession? Are you pining after _my fiancé_?"

"If you're just opposed to me escorting you, then let Yozak, or Gwendel, or some guards. Just because the country isn't hostile doesn't mean all of their residents are so trusting. Think about the position you're putting Yuri in!" Conrad was getting agitated at his hot-headed little brother.

Yuri was scratching his head looking at the scene from afar, nearby the stables where Wolfram's horse was being kept. It didn't take a great sage to figure out that they were locked in a tense battle and Yuri planned on keeping as far out of the war zone as he'd be allowed.

"That's the same thing as a chaperone! You don't understand romance at all; you've never loved anyone in your whole life!" Wolfram fumed.

Conrad took that moment to take in a reality check, or more accurately to check his anger, it was really stupid to be fighting, he was being insistent about guards because he simply didn't like the idea of Wolfram and Yuri being alone. Well, beside the reason of Yuri's own sanity and purity, he was concerned about what-ifs about Wolfram not being able to signal or if they got lost, with only one person besides Yuri, he couldn't leave him which may not be plausible in all cases. Of course he was worried! He loved his younger brother and Yuri, yes, Yuri even if Wolfram insisted he'd never loved anyone.

No, because he had loved and lost he had the foresight to plan ahead.

Wolfram began storming over to the stables, "Yuri! We're leaving! I'm taking you on a date!" Wolfram asserted.

Yuri blanched, "…Conrad, you're coming with us to town, too, aren't you?"

Wolfram was shooting him daggers as Yuri shot silent pleas toward his knight to not really make him go on a date with _that_.

"And what's so horrible just going with ME, huh you wimp!"

Yuri winced, turning away from Conrad in order to attempt to smooth things over with Wolfram, "I just think it would be fun with more people heading into town…"

"We're not going to a town!"

"…Eh?" Yuri noticed Wolfram was becoming indignant, well, more so than usual. "Then where are we going?"

"For a stroll on the horse to enjoy nature. Now get on the horse, we're leaving."

Yuri laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head, "You really mean that? We're _just_ going to go riding? No stopping or you trying to make the moves on me…?"

Wolfram glared at him as if asking what was wrong with putting the moves on Yuri, but he was more content at being angry at Conrad, instead of Yuri. "Yes."

Yuri sighed, "Well, then, Conrad, that should be fine right? If we're just going for a ride there shouldn't be any problems."

Conrad had to take a step back at that, after all, if that was Yuri's will… Going against Wolfram was one thing, but he could hardly be insubordinate. He sighed, "If that is what you wish, Heika. How long do you expect this stroll to be for?"

Wolfram smiled victoriously, "Two hours, we'll be back in time for lunch." His airs were almost glowing with pretentiousness.

"What direction are you traveling in?" Conrad added, Wolfram was getting annoyed again as if his brother was going to spy on them or something, but he knew Conrad wouldn't follow, after all Yuri had him whipped.

"Toward the beach."

"Alright, then." Conrad conveyed with his eyes that two hours had better be a prompt number, otherwise he'd personally track them down.

Wolfram's defiant eyes explained clearly that he wouldn't give him a chance to interrupt their date before hoisting himself on the horse and pulling Yuri up behind him.

Yuri reluctantly put an arm around Wolfram's waist wondering how he could keep this pleasant.

And with that, they left the grounds. It wasn't as if he was trying to be difficult, but they had come to visit the foreign nation for diplomatic relations and just now, after Yuri was done signing the last of the treaties, did they have any time to themselves. After today they were scheduled to travel back to Shin Makoku so he had wanted to do something special.

He wanted to be the one, for once, to show Yuri around a new place. Conrad did it all the time and it was really getting on his nerves how much his older brother looked more like Yuri's fiancé then he did!

By time they were ten minutes out, Wolfram began to relax, after all, he won. He got to spend some quality time with Yuri by themselves and just enjoy the day.

"Do you see that castle in the distance?" Wolfram pointed to a stony presence that jutted out onto a peninsula.

It looked rustic to say the least, in fact dilapidated was probably a better phrase. Yuri could only help but conjure the images of ghosts and torture chambers, bewailing moans, the whole nine yards.

"…It looks creepy." Yuri mentioned.

"I guess that's appropriate, it was a military stronghold a long time ago. There's a local legend that tells about how an army of thieves occupied it and stole the riches from the ocean goddesses. So, angered by it, the goddesses reigned down on it for two years, finally when only a handful of thieves remained, they returned what they had taken. The goddesses then turned them into those pillars to stand vigil against anyone else who would try to steal the riches of the land or sea."

"Rained down upon them?" Yuri asked, "You mean like a hurricane or monsoon?"

"No, not rained, reigned! You know, fought them with swords and other weapons made from the sea… well, that's the legend."

"Wow, that's really cool." Yuri said, smiling at Wolfram. The blond blushed.

"Yeah, well, some _human_ myths are actually pretty creative." He stepped up the pace a little. They had to pass along a ravine in order to reach the promised beach; so far they were slightly ahead of schedule.

Yuri looked at the walls to the chasm as the horse drew them inwards. The cliff-faces were a beautiful albeit strange color of lavender and slate grey, speckled with reflective white speckles. "This is beautiful, what kind of rocks are those?" Yuri asked, pointing at them.

"That's called skrit-stone. They usually come in blues or violets, so this lavender color is special." He mentioned, turning to face the cliffs. The soft-green brush weed and dark green plush bushes accentuated the dark undertone of the stone-face.

Wolfram spotted a bright red flower, "Oi, Yuri, do you see that flower? That's called the Red Lady…"

Yuri leaned over to see it, "Red Lady? What a weird name for a flower. On Earth we call those roses."

"Roses?" Wolfram seemed curious. As he glanced over to see Yuri's face, the horse fell forward, Wolfram fell forward, landing before the horse, Yuri fell to the right of the downed horse's body.

Yuri rubbed his back, "Huh? Wolfram what was that for…" Yuri slowly sat up then stood up. "Wolfram…?"

His eyes shrank back when he saw Wolfram lying before the horse, his body in what seemed like a very unnatural pose, unconscious.

"WOLFRAM!" Yuri hurried to the downed blond, looking over his body. He'd seen this in the movies before, he looked like he broke something. He didn't dare shake him, afraid of doing irreversible damage.

Yuri began to infuse his healing energies, what was he supposed to do? He didn't know where they were, he wasn't really paying attention to the path they had taken… his eyes kept scanning up and down Wolfram, terrified. After a few moments, Yuri decided it was best to try to move Wolfram to the side of the path, behind the bushes.

He'd signal for help from a passerby, but just to make sure no one got any funny ideas he'd have to hide Wolfram, just in case.

After a little bit of doing, Yuri had pulled Wolfram to the side, he glanced at the horse not sure quite what to do, it looked stuck but he was hardly going to be able to pick up the pitiable beast.

He heard the sounds of whinnying in the distance. "Oh thank goodness… someone's coming." He mentioned to himself as if to help him steady his own nerves.

As two men approached on their respective steeds, they came to stop at the down horse and the double-black teenager.

"Excuse me! Excuse me, could you help me!" Yuri started, waving them down.

One man had wide, tanned shoulders, hazel eyes and sandy-colored hair, he looked like he was 35, or would have been what looked thirty-five on Earth, Yuri wasn't good with the math when it came to converting ages from Shin Makoku and Earth still. He rode on a grey horse with a white mane and tail. The other man was thinner, his shoulders not as broad as his comrade, he had fair skin and blue eyes, his hair a similar sandy shade; though, his was a bit darker. He rode on a horse with a rust-colored body, white 'socks' that came half way up the animal's legs, a white muzzle and dark brown mane and tail.

They didn't look like they were carrying anything dangerous, no swords were readily viewable.

"Excuse me! I need help…!" Yuri started, glancing toward the path, eying toward the brush, "We had a bit of an accident and the horse is stuck…"

The two men looked back and forth to each other, surprised to see a double-black, one of them smirked, "I hear their blood goes for top dollar on the market… it's magical, and supposed to make your sword possess the strength of the demons."

"His blood? Think about his head, he's got to be Shin Makoku nobility, maybe even a king. Big Shimeron would pay handsomely for…"

"…so my friend and I really need help…" Yuri continued, oblivious to the men's whispers.

One of them dismounted, Yuri seemed to start guiding them toward the brush before the man clobbered him over the head.

As Yuri fell and hit the ground, Wolfram's eyes began to flit open, he groaned quietly, turning his head he mentioned, "Yuri…? Are you okay?"

His eyes spotted the action taking place beyond the brush, green eyes shrinking, "Yuri!"

Wolfram's voice didn't carry, as no one turned toward him or signaled as if they even heard him.

"So where should we hold him?"

"The castle's a great place. No one goes there and we can spot anyone coming."

"I can't believe our luck. Look what our trap brought in! We're going to be rich."

The blue eyed man smirked at the unconscious Yuri, he draped Yuri across the horse, stomach down, before mounting it. "Very rich, let's go before he wakes up."

Wolfram tried standing up but found he could hardly move, as if his legs were tied to bags of cement. He managed to crawl through the brush to see their backs fading as they rode out of the chasm. "_YURI!_"

He immediately turned to see his horse, realization hit him then, his horse had broken his front legs. Wolfram closed his eyes and bowed his head down to the right. The poor animal, he couldn't even get himself out of that hole… Wolfram attempted to summon his fire elemental, casting it upward. Oh he knew damn well it would fizzle, but he was counting that he could at least make a sizable flare.

It was exhausting, but he hoped someone had seen it. He then returned his attentions to his horse.

He knew he had to do it, but all the same it was sad. He had used that horse for over 10 years. He drew his sword and bowed beside the horse, petting his muzzle, his own eyes watering, he stabbed down into the horse's neck, close to his head, piercing the carotids.

Within minutes, the horse's suffering would be over. It wasn't like he had a choice! With two broken legs the poor animal would never walk again, if anything it would die from a blood clot or an infection, or something more painful and prolonged and they wouldn't be able to move him for a healer to try to save him. He managed to find the strength to pull himself off to the side of the path. He'd have to wait now.

As he waited, he watched the now dead horse, his eyes watering. On top of that, Yuri had been snagged by some filthy humans, and Conrad had been right. He felt like such a fool. Such a damnable fool!

Conrad's eyes noticed what looked like a flare, his heart tightened in his chest. That had been the direction Wolfram had taken. He stormed inside to find Gwendel.

"Gwendel! Yuri's in danger, Wolfram sent up a flare, get your men ready! I'm going ahead."

Gwendel's eyes widened momentarily, he set off to do just that. He knew he wouldn't be able to keep Conrad back, nor did he think he really needed to, at least Conrad was competent in his duties.

Yuri awoke inside a stone room he'd never seen the likes of before, well, not in person at least. It looked like a medieval dungeon, torture equipment and all.

He tried to focus on what was going on around him, he had a pounding headache and was acutely aware of why.

One of the two men he had seen earlier approached him, wielding a knife. Yuri looked around, oh, this was bad! His hands were shackled above his head, keeping his body pinned to a table that had a wheel off to its side.

He wasn't quite sure why until the man cranked the wheel making the head of the table rise up, tilting him about 20° forward.

As anyone would in a situation like this, he began looking around, panicked. "Where's Wolfram!" Yuri demanded, if they hurt him he'd… he didn't know what he'd do but he knew it wouldn't be nice.

"Oh your friend? He's not here." Mentioned the hazel-eyed man wielding the knife. "Should I pass him a message?"

"If you've hurt him I'll…"

He brought the knife near Yuri, keeping it very visible to the youth. "Oh, I'm insulted. I didn't hurt your little friend. But, if you'd like to keep it that way you better behave yourself."

Yuri's eyes widened, he realized what that meant.

"Keep compliant with our requests and he'll be just fine. Otherwise though… well, if you decide to act up, we'll just take it up with him. How about that?"

Yuri's mouth gaped slightly, his eyes cast down. "…Don't hurt him."

"Oh, then you mean you'll comply? How noble." The man chortled, "Well then, let's get down to business." He moved Yuri's right arm to his side right inside a channel that ran the length of the table. Turning the arm soft-side up, he fixated the shackle in that new position.

He put a jar at the bottom of the table and then slashed Yuri's arm, putting enough pressure to get a very good bleed.

Yuri screamed out in pain before becoming very quiet.

He came to realize in that instance that he had just become the VIP guest to this torture chamber and that he really wished Conrad was there.

Conrad pressed his horse hard until he came to the chasm. Spotting the dead horse, throat slashed, his eyes instantly began scanning the area, he saw his younger, blond brother trying to keep down his sobs. He noticed from the way the dust was covering him and the way his shoulder looked that he wasn't in good shape.

"Wolfram! Wolfram where's Yuri? What happened?" Conrad dismounted, approaching his kid brother.

"…Some bastards grabbed him and rode off with him. They had to be bandits… damn it I can't believe I was so stupid and didn't notice that trap!" His eyes were puffy and red, "It broke my horse's legs. I had to put him down…" He shook his head, that wasn't the _important thing_ right now.

Conrad just watched him, giving him a moment knowing full well those were very limited commodity with Yuri in enemy hands.

"There were two of them, they said they were going to take him to the castle on the peninsula. They also said they were going to sell Yuri's blood on the black market, and his life to Belial."

Conrad's eyes widened. "Gwendel is coming behind me. I have to go ahead Wolfram…"

"Yeah, I know. I won't stop you. Damn it, I'm sorry I messed up so bad… If they've hurt him I'll never forgive myself…"

"Wolfram, you live, you learn, and you try not to make the same mistakes again. I'll get him back, I swear. But how long ago did they grab him?"

"My flare went up after they had just cleared the chasm, maybe an hour and a half by now."

Conrad nodded. "Alright. Hold tight."

Wolfram waved his good hand dismissively, "Just go get him back!"

"I'll make them pay for it, Wolfram." Conrad noted, he returned to his horse, mounting the brown-on-brown equine before setting off, quickly working up to full speed.

Yuri felt woozy as he watched his blood drip down his arm and into a sickeningly full looking jar, the blood seemed to be slowing down, but not by much. When the thinner man approached him with a knife he wasn't sure if they were going to go for jar number two, instead he was surprised to see the knife near his face.

It made him lose sight of the wooziness, at least. His eyes focused in on the blade as it insistently came closer to his face, he craned his neck back trying to escape whatever they had in fate for him.

A cool-tempered hand grabbed hold of the roots of his hair. "We have to send Belial proof that we have a double-black, some hair should do."

The knife cut out a small chunk of hair, maybe a patch about 2 by 3 centimeters. Well, his bangs _were_ getting long, anyways, Yuri rationalized. The man waded out of the room, moving around the excessive amount of torture devices.

Yuri felt something press into his arm, unpleasantly. He winced one eye shut, apparently the broad-shouldered man wanted to cap off the jar.

After he sealed the jar and put another container in its place, he cranked the wheel bringing Yuri to an upright position.

"Oh this is going to be great." He mentioned as he punched Yuri across the face, splitting his lip, Yuri vaguely recognized a ring as the fist came down on him once more just below his right eye, he could have sworn he felt that ring nick him.

"Don't forget, you even try to pull anything and we'll beat the crap out of your buddy in the other room, you filthy double-black!"

Yuri winced, he really wasn't used to having so much hatred directed at him; it wasn't easy to take that, particularly this physical variety.

He was punched once more, in his left eye before the other man came in, he seemed pissy.

"Edmund what are you doing! Idiot! Stop it with the head-shots! You know Belial will want THAT as a trophy, you can't just go bruising it up to the point of no recognition. If you have to flip out, at least do body-shots, man, body-shots!"

Yuri hacked at the next return of the fist as it struck him in the solar plexis. Yuri drooped forward, which seemed to be all Edmund needed, as he walked back to a chair to rest.

"Well you can hardly blame me! You know what they did to our village!" He grumbled, "You lost your family too, Roland! How can you just sit there so calm, it's bizarre."

"Yes, yes, avenge your dead sisters, I know, but we can't just damage the merchandise either!" The blue eyed man rationalized.

"Where's Wolfram…" Yuri glared at them, suddenly doubting just how likely they were in keeping their own word.

"Oh, that again? I told you he's fine, and he'll continue to be fine unless you act up." Edmund commented.

"Prove it! Is he awake? What's he saying!" Yuri's eyes were focusing, not in the way they would before he transformed into the maoh, but that look was still just as terrifying for those under it.

"He's calling you names and wondering why you'd keep up this charade of bravery." Roland mentioned, "You must really be hated, even your friends think poorly of you."

Sure, he was talking out of his ass, but somehow it seemed to work much to his own amusement.

Yuri's eyes softened, becoming depressed. They really did have him, then, huh?

"Oi, I'll be back." Edmund mentioned, impatient to see if Belial had gotten back to their message, realistically, after as little time as had past, Belial probably hadn't even gotten the proposition yet.

Roland seemed to enjoy watching Yuri as Yuri tried to keep up his 'evil eye' at least that made them less interested in getting close to him.

"I've come to realize something."

Yuri continued to breathe strained, tired from blood loss. He kept on glaring.

"And what's that?" Yuri finally said, assuming this… Roland guy would no-doubt tell him.

"It's in our best interest to make sure you can't just escape."

Yuri gave him a strange look, the idea of abandoning Wolfram had never even come to his mind, and from what the blond had looked like after falling off the horse…

"I'll give you a few options. Shall I break your leg, your arm, or maybe some ribs? Which would you prefer?"

Yuri's eyes widened, the threat becoming quite heavy.

"Oh, well, if you're not going to cooperate your friend surely wouldn't mind…"

"…Leg!" Yuri bit his own lip, looking down. Somehow the leg seemed like something more bearable, that would heal eventually, but if he broke his arm he wouldn't be able to play baseball… not like a broken leg would particularly allow for it either, but… hey, he loved to catch, he couldn't even imagine giving it up.

He remembered the time Conrad had awoken him with a surprise, when he had actually managed to get a midnight baseball game going. He had been so touched.

Gods he missed Conrad so much, right now. He wanted to see him, even if only in his mind.

He felt a pang of guilt for Wolfram, Wolfram was hurt and he only could think of Conrad… even though Wolfram was so infatuated with him, he couldn't even entertain the thought. He really was messed up, he considered him as a close friend, but compared to Conrad… No, that was passion, what he felt toward Conrad.

Roland approached him with something that looked like a wooden vice.

"So, left or right?"

Yuri looked at him, confused, was he asking him to choose which leg to break? That really was a bit sick.

"Giving me the silent treatment, eh? Your buddy would probably be more vocal, if just in complaints. You demons sure are tough, huh? Normal people couldn't just say break a leg without flinching. Heh, maybe I'll just break both."

Yuri swallowed hard, this was really not going well.

Roland looked out the door, wondering what was keeping Edmund. As the sandy-haired man re-entered he seemed a bit miffed, holding a drink.

"Edmund, I say we break his legs, it'll make sure he can't just escape or anything funny."

"I say we just kill him and be done with it." His eyes were shifting around.

"You really have no business sense. What's wrong, you seem agitated."

"Come outside for a second."

The two exited, leaving a very threatening device to Yuri's left.

After the course of a few minutes, they returned, Yuri looking at the device, he looked up, with a guilty expression.

"Okay, I'm breaking his leg." Roland mentioned.

He slipped the vice onto Yuri's leg and began to twist the dial.

After more than twenty notches, he realized something was wrong, it wasn't getting tighter like it should be, and he could swear that brat had a smug look to him.

"So you broke it? Good for you." He pulled the vice off, not noticing the block Yuri had managed to slip in using his feet. "Now I'll snap your ankle instead."

Almost acting in narration, he took Yuri's right ankle and twisted it hard to the left. Yuri managed not to scream, tired of playing into their games. He had to figure a way out of here, and at each passing minute he was losing his chances to do that.

"That's it. I'm going to kill the other one." Edmund mentioned, apparently his mood was getting worse. He couldn't believe himself, that Mazoku- no, the Maoh, was so concerned with someone other than himself, disregarding his own self. He hated him more for that, no, he wanted to hear him plea, to beg, to beg for some form of mercy that he had no intention to give to him.

"Wait!" Yuri said, panicked. "Don't you dare!" He pulled at his own bonds hardly able to even make them shake.

"Why should I spare him? He's a Mazoku, isn't he?"

Roland scoffed before bowing out, "Edmund, I'll do it. You just watch him."

"But I've been complying… if you're going to go back on your word…" Yuri continued to pull on his restraints, each time getting more and more pull from them.

"Fine, if you can walk over to the room he's in, all the way down that hall there, before Roland kills him we'll let him go, how about that."

"…Really?" Yuri's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Yeah, really." He took hold of a cast-iron rod, keeping it behind his back. He was going to kill him, screw the money.

Conrad approached the peninsula, deciding stealth was secondary to speed, he didn't even try to hide his advance.

Within minutes he had reached the stone entryway. Instead of dismounting, he continued to push his horse to move through the halls, the structure was hardly what it once had been in means of being a fortress. No, now it was filled with holes and collapsed sections. Only one area would even be a sufficient place to store captives, the interior eastern hall. The benefit of that was if they were keeping Yuri company, neither of them would even see him coming.

He continued to push his horse onward, chanting a string of "Ya… ya…"

Edmund really did unshackle Yuri, to his surprise. Of course, upon landing on his feet he realized just how this was supposed to be torturous, after all, everything they were doing to him seemed to be designed to strictly torture him.

He dragged his limp right leg as dead weight behind him, hobbling with a slight jump to advance his left foot and then drag the right one back up to beside it before continuing the cycle. He was sweating profusely, hugging the wall, pulling himself along it as he continued down the hallway.

It was as though he could hear his heart beating in his chest like a galloping horse…

When his heart started to cry out "Yuri!" in Conrad's voice, however, he started questioning if that was really his heart he was hearing.

Yuri turned to see Conrad plowing forward, upon seeing Edmund, he also spotted a rod coming down at him, he reflexively brought his right forearm horizontally across his face, and his left arm raised to brace behind it, though that was hardly a successful reinforcement as his left arm dropped before even moving half-way up his torso.

Upon the loss of his arms as support against the wall he stumbled back, landing on his behind. He winced as he waited for the inevitable blow.

After several seconds he saw Conrad's sword hovering two feet overhead, the cast-iron rod deflected from the upward strike.

Conrad continued to push back the broad-shouldered man with little difficulty. "CONRAD! Don't kill him!" Yuri yelled back as Conrad pushed him back, Edmund fell to the ground, the bar slid across the ground.

Yuri began to hoist himself up the wall, continuing his trek toward the door now only ten paces away.

"Yuri! Where are you going?!" Conrad didn't really understand how Yuri was moving let alone why with his ankle hanging in an awkward angle.

"Wolfram's in danger… I have to…"

Yuri fell, hitting ground hard.

"What are you saying… Yuri they don't even HAVE Wolfram!"

Yuri's eyes widened, "What…? What did you just say?"

His features slumped forward.

"How do you think I knew where you were? Wolfram told me, they never even saw him."

"You mean…" he slid into the wall, making himself stand, baffling Conrad further.

"Yuri, please just stay still."

"…So they didn't do anything to him… oh thank goodness," he lifted his head, smiling through the pain.

Conrad forced back the man before hitting him across the jaw, sending him down, knocked out cold.

Roland came outside after hearing the commotion, upon sighting Edmund on the ground he grabbed a sword from inside the room he had just been in.

Yuri extended his hand, "Why don't you just stop this already! Come to your senses, you're not going to be able to win so just give up peacefully, it's better when you're arrested not to fight against it, it only makes matters worse…"

Roland laughed, "Hmm, execution or keep my sword here and have a fighting chance… wow, difficult choice."

Yuri hung his head, "I don't think you get it, you don't have a chance. And, frankly, I don't know if you've done anything that warrants such a drastic step."

Roland laughed even harder, pointing his sword at Yuri, "What, are you trying to distract me with your jokes? Like I'd even believe a Mazoku, you'd be happy to kill me, I bet you even have something that eats souls!"

The black haired youth turned away slightly guilty. Technically Morgif did do that, didn't he? "I don't want to kill anyone."

Conrad approached Yuri's position, holding his sword at the ready, he pressed Yuri against the wall gently, keeping his eyes forward to glare at the fool who was still pointing a sword at Yuri. "Yuri, please stay against the wall here. I'll take care of him."

"But why do you have to fight? You're going to hurt him!" Yuri spoke to the back of Conrad's head.

"Heika, he's taken up a sword against you, if he truly wants to fight, it is my duty to make sure it isn't with you."

"Mou, but we could still reason with him… and it's Yuri! How can you not even remember my name when you're the one who named me!"

"Yuri, that ditch that the horse fell into, they set that trap to rob people. These are bandits working for the black market. They're petty criminals and now they've graduated a level by attacking you." Conrad kept his arm extended, blocking Yuri if the teen decided to walk ahead of him. "And that trap, Wolfram had to put down the horse because of it. The fall broke its front legs."

Yuri tilted his head, "But that probably wasn't intentional…"

Roland looked at them incredulously, just what were these two?

"They put spikes in it, that was intentional. Look around, this isn't some opportune hideout, it's a torture-chamber. This is a vicious and violent bandit, I am not putting the sword down."

"…If that's true…" Yuri bowed his head, Conrad's points were completely valid, he allowed himself to sit down. "Do what you have to do—DON'T kill him."

"Hai, hai. I understand, Yuri." He bowed down and fished for Yuri's right hand. His hand captured it and then crushed it onto the wound on Yuri's left arm. "Now press down on that as hard as you can."

Yuri nodded his head once, "Okay, I get it." He continued to hold his arm as Conrad had instructed him.

Roland scratched his nose, "Are you finished now?" Readjusting his pose he swiped the blade at Conrad who deflected it stunningly, pressing the marauder back before sending a rapid set of strikes, swipes and slashes to back his unskilled opponent to a corner.

The blond attempted to push himself out of the corner only to spiral toward the ground, tripping over Conrad's extended foot. His own sword slid down the stone walk-way well out of reach. Conrad sheathed his sword and punched the man to the ground, then twice more assuring he was unconscious before dragging him toward his downed accomplice.

Using a length of rope he bound the two then tossed them into an empty room, locking the ancient doors with a bolt through two reinforced latches.

He approached his horse, gathering a set of first-aid supplies from his satchel. "Yuri, how are you holding up?" He looked at Yuri, measuring him.

Though Conrad was not a healer he had seen the battle field and wounds like this were things he knew how to handle.

"Now that you're here, definitely better." Yuri gave him a winning smile before leaning his head back against the wall, winded to say the least.

"Do you know about how much blood you've lost?"

"A little more than half a liter, they have most of that in a jar if you wanted to check…" Yuri seemed out of it, Conrad's eyes flashed dark wondering if he should pay the bandits a bit of a visit.

"Alright, Yuri can you sit up straight?" Conrad took out a bottle that looked suspiciously similar to peroxide.

Yuri complied to the best of his ability, even volunteering his arm forward when Conrad asked for it. After Conrad applied the liquid Yuri's arm moved back reflexively from the pain. Conrad had snagged his wrist and returned it forward slightly. He prodded the gash to make sure nothing was inside the wound, seeing nothing but the slow accumulation of more blood he bandaged the wound and corded it off tightly.

Pulling at his arm, Yuri looked at Conrad, "What are you doing, that hurts… is that a tourniquet?"

"Gwendel's squadron, including healers is heading this way, this will keep the blood loss down, Yuri. You've lost a lot of blood, a dangerous amount."

Yuri looked at him doubting it somehow, however the more wobbly he felt the more he had to agree with Conrad's assessment.

"It hurts, I know, but I'll take that off in a few moments."

Yuri looked like he was nodding, though it simultaneously looked like his head was dropping as he tried to keep awake in a failing battle against sleep.

"Let me see your ankle." Yuri flinched at just the mentions of that.

"Try to be gentle…" Yuri whined, it was a stupid comment and he knew it, Conrad _was_ being gentle, as gentle as possible and probably a bit more for posterity. Yuri extended his bent leg slightly, he clutched Conrad's shoulder as Conrad removed his shoe.

Conrad could feel the squeeze on his shoulder, he wondered if he had any balm he could use for the pain in his bag.

He took out a knife to cut the sock off, determining that pulling it off would be far worse and doubting he could roll it down gently enough. It was rather swollen and bruised. Yuri's hand loosened from the squeeze, his fingers twitching minorly as Conrad investigated softly. Conrad pushed against the swollen skin to feel for any misplaced bones though it looked more like a very nasty twisted ankle.

Yuri's hand balled the fabric of Conrad's shirt, "Agh… Ah, that really hurts…" Yuri said, face scrunched, "Ne Conrad, stop poking at it, please."

Conrad relented for a moment, he moved his hand up Yuri's leg to his calf muscle, the ticklish sensation distracted Yuri momentarily before Conrad pushed the last spot to feel for the other possibly broken bone. "Nothing seems broken, that's good."

He touched Yuri's knee, "You're doing great, just keep it up a little more for me, alright?" Conrad flashed that confident caring smile at Yuri.

Yuri smiled automatically at the sight, some of the tension fading. Conrad thought he was handling it well, that made him feel pride in himself. He loved it when Conrad signaled his respect or any admiration for Yuri.

Conrad seemed a bit perturbed that Yuri was smiling back at him, he had expected it to make him lighten up a little, but for him to go that far struck him as a bit odd.

He searched through his satchel finding what he had hoped he packed. It worked wonders as far as an analgesic, though he usually used it for burns or bad scrapes.

Rubbing a healthy amount of it onto his hands, he began to massage the compound into the balls of Yuri's feet then worked upward until the heel. He moved his eyes up to watch Yuri's face very carefully as he began adding it over the actual injury-site. Continuing to rub it in, he watched as the winces became squints and then just relaxed indifference at the particular contact. By time his hand was moving up Yuri's pant leg, he could swear he spotted a blush from the teenager.

He retracted his hands and wiped them down before grabbing a bandage.

"How did you do that, it feels fine now… like it was just some knotted up muscle…"

Conrad raised an eyebrow, "Well, as glad as I am that it feels better, it by no means is better. That's just a medicinal balm, it makes the pain disappear for a while, it should hold you over until we get back to Shin Makoku."

He started to wrap the ankle, still taking care not to jar it. Just because Yuri couldn't feel the pain didn't mean it wasn't there, in fact, the one problem with that good of a balm was secondary injury to the already sore area. Conrad put Yuri's leg back down gently, Yuri looked at Conrad with half-lidded eyes.

"Conrad… would you…" Yuri blushed lightly, "I know I'm asking for a lot, but would you hold me, at least until Gwendel gets here… I can't think of anything more comfortable right now." Yuri looked downward, blushing. It was embarrassing to ask, and expressing something like that, he was practically admitting to Conrad that he loved him, his body the most comfortable 'chair' imaginable to Yuri.

"Of course, Yuri. But first I have to check on the prisoners and then see if I can spot him."

Yuri nodded once in understanding.

Conrad excused himself to look inside to see the two bandits, upon seeing them both unconscious and secured, he relocked the door then went back to Yuri.

"So is Gwendel… Wha?!" Conrad lifted Yuri in his arms before moving toward what once was the main hall of the ruins. His horse followed his movements knowing where it was supposed to be. He sat Yuri down before taking his sword and sheath off from around his waist.

He placed the sword to Yuri's right then slid behind Yuri so he could keep watch for Gwendel's approach.

Yuri smiled softly as he leaned back into Conrad's chest, tired.

Conrad loosened the tourniquet and rubbed Yuri's forearm to bring in some circulation knowing the tourniquet would have to return if he began to bleed out again.

"Is Wolfram okay?" Yuri mentioned, he listened to the rhythm of Conrad's breathing, it was so relaxing.

"He'll be fine." Conrad mentioned, he laid Yuri's arm back down to his side, Yuri directed it slightly further out left so it rested on Conrad's leg like an arm-rest.

"That's good. If I went through all that and he was really hurt, that would have been really annoying."

Conrad glanced down at Yuri's face, "You didn't try to escape, did you?" Conrad was more stating then asking.

"How could I have, I thought they had Wolfram and kept going on about hurting him. They even said he was mocking me whenever they were with him, it was really believable!"

Letting out a scoff that Conrad played as a cough he looked at Yuri seriously for a moment. "Yuri, don't tell Wolfram that. It would break his heart if he thought you were hurt on his behalf. As it is, he's already beating himself up about it."

"Ne, you think I could convince him not to marry me then?" Yuri laughed gently before sighing knowing that that wasn't likely to happen any time soon.

"Oh, but you two looked like you were getting along so well today." Conrad smirked.

In a minimalist manner, Yuri flailed, his arms barely lifting off his Conrad arm-rests, "I don't like him like that! Ugh, just because I want to be friends with him he goes and misreads every little thing. I wouldn't even think of mentioning something like this to him, he'd see it as some sign of undying love or something equally creepy."

"Ah, so this wasn't an act of love?" Conrad determined he should let this wind down to conserve Yuri's energy, instead of provoke him, after saying that.

"Not the romantic kind." Yuri banged his head against Conrad's chest, "How could I have let them do that to anyone willingly if I could trade places…"

"You mean they were threatening if you didn't let them have their way with you they'd have it with him?"

Yuri nodded.

"If it ever comes to that ever again, don't you dare choose yourself as the whipping-boy." Conrad gave him a stern look, "Wolfram, Gwendel, myself, any of us would never want you to have to suffer to spare us. You're too important."

"And you're all important to me!" Yuri said, giving Conrad his own stern look adding in a twist of annoyance. "I couldn't stand the idea of someone hurting any of you, and you… oh gods it's bad enough just having to remember when you were shot with those arrows… I can't do that again. It hurts too much, this pain, this is nothing compared to that."

"We feel the same way about seeing you in pain, Yuri. Besides, remember your position as the maoh, we as vassals are replaceable in comparison, we answer to you, but you answer to all of your people and they would miss you horribly if something irreversible were to happen." Conrad scolded, these were the finer points that he'd argue Yuri until they were blue or until the teen submitted. "The one thing I can truly give to you is my life, for you to take that duty from me is unfair."

"The _one_ thing?" Yuri glared, "If you're giving me your life don't you think that means I can use it how I want? And I just so happen to not use it as some sacrifice when that can be--"

Yuri sighed then yawned, "I don't want to fight Conrad. I just wish you realized what you just said to me." The man he loved was saying to just throw his life away at the drop of the hat.

Conrad snaked his arms around Yuri's stomach and pulled him into an embrace, "Yuri, what I'm saying is I love you too much to let you be hurt when I could take it instead. If for nothing else I'm a trained soldier, I have a higher tolerance to pain and I can't heal people… I'm saying that in some cases our roles have to define our actions. Mine as a soldier and a vassal, yours as the maoh."

"But what about your role as the person I love?"

Yuri's eyes went wide, that was probably not the thing to say. He just let it slip, he could see Conrad's brown eyes spark and wasn't sure exactly what that meant.

Conrad pressed his lips against Yuri, "Then doesn't your role as the person I love cancel that out?"

Yuri lowered his eyes, blushing. He turned his face up to look at Conrad. "Say it again…"

Conrad closed his eyes then opened them with a sincere smile, he wasn't walking out onto thin ice, he was stomping on it, "I love you, Yuri."

Conrad examined the bandage around Yuri's arm, seeing a faint spot of red growing, he turned to scan the horizon, he spotted in the distance a forming cloud of dust. "They should be here soon, Yuri. I have to put the tourniquet back on and you need to rest. We'll finish talking about this later."

Yuri nodded, still a bit dumbfounded at what he heard. He didn't find it difficult to fall asleep, his head tipped back, his body flaccid.

Conrad adjusted his positioning before his brothers were upon them, using his overcoat as a blanket, he draped Yuri then rested the black-haired and eyed teenager's head onto his thigh.

Yuri awoke hours later upon one of Shin Makoku's flag ships.

Even with his eyes shut, he knew that when they opened a blond-haired, green-eyed Mazoku would pounce him, bombarding him with questions and accusations between his seasick flare-ups. On the other hand, at least on board the ship that would give him a few minutes reprieve he else wise wouldn't have from Wolfram's wild allegations. He blinked his eyes in order to adjust to the dim amounts of sunlight that slipped into the cabin through the portholes.

Glancing to his left he saw what could have been mistaken for a mummified maoh. His ankle seemed to bulge out three times in size versus his right ankle, underneath all the bandages and tape. His arm didn't seem much better, he scrolled his face rightwards, spotting a scarily quiet Wolfram sitting in the chair.

Wolfram seemed to actually not be seasick, to Yuri's dismay.

"Yuri, you're awake?" Wolfram said, noticing owlish black orbs.

"Ah, ha… ha… yeah. Good afternoon, I think its afternoon, or is it the evening now?" He glanced toward the porthole trying to determine if he was seeing the signs of an ever encroaching dusk or if the sun was still in sight.

"That doesn't matter Yuri." Wolfram didn't know how to proceed, it wasn't as if he could continue with Yuri's pleasantries, he felt horribly guilty for all of this, Yuri was hurt, as was he, and his horse was dead. All because he refused to let Conrad join them, no less.

"Oi, it does too. It tells me when dinner is." Yuri gave him a whimsical smile, "And I'm _really_ hungry. I think I heard that when you lose a lot of blood you become hungry so that must be why."

Wolfram approached Yuri's side, taking his right hand in his.

Yuri started to sweat, not quite sure he was in the mood for Wolfram throwing himself at Yuri while he was this ill-prepared to dodge… He felt uneasy, and then he started to feel warm, Wolfram was using his own healing powers.

"You shouldn't be pushing yourself like this Wolfram!" Yuri barked, pulling his hand away. Wolfram looked at Yuri, confused. "Besides, I'll be fine, this isn't anything life-threatening."

Yuri looked at his arm, "Not any more, at least." Yuri felt a wave of dizziness, "Oh gods, don't tell me you can pass on seasickness through healing magic… is that how come you look fine?"

Conrad tapped on the door before entering. "Yuri, regrettably for Wolfram, that's not so. You're not seasick, you're feeling lightheaded from the blood-loss, though I'm sure being on a boat isn't helping your dizziness any."

The blond moved back to the chair closer toward the corner of the room.

"He took something for the seasickness, though his stubbornness might be why he's not feeling ill." Conrad said as he looked at Wolfram, Yuri couldn't tell if that was a mild reprimand or compliment.

"Well, then. If that mystery's solved, how about the mystery of what time is it?"

"I've brought you something to eat, Yuri. I understand you must be hungry, however, it is something light for your stomach." He exposed sandwiches and some gelatin.

Yuri gave Conrad a look as Wolfram gave the gelatin just an uneasy look.

"This looks like hospital food." Yuri grumbled.

Wolfram's hands reached to his mouth as he b-lined for somewhere he could alleviate his sudden nausea, that damn gelatin, just wriggling like that… thinking about it made him have to repeat the cycle all over again as he heaved the contents of his stomach over the rail.

The two glanced at the chair now absent of Wolfram. "He seems to be feeling… better?" Yuri questioned. Realistically, Wolfram had been forcing himself to stay there, so with the return of those symptoms that had to mean he was relieved, right?

Conrad chuckled before suppressing the laugh in case Wolfram was ready to come back.

"I'd say he's relieved." Conrad commented then put the food down next to Yuri, sitting on the side of the bed. He handed Yuri a sandwich.

Yawning out the last few traces of his nap, Yuri took the sandwich and began to chew on it, discovering soon just how good it really was.

Conrad pushed Yuri's bangs back to examine his face and forming bruises, Yuri blushed at such a close proximity, acutely aware of Conrad's intense stare on his own face. The blush became more than Yuri could stand and he turned to face forward, breathing in an excited gasp. Leave it to Conrad to get his heart racing.

"Don't forget to eat your dessert."

"Oh, right…" Yuri started on the jiggling snack, slightly intrigued by the dark purple, almost black color. He wondered what flavor it could be.

As unfamiliar as he was with the agricultural products, he decided to just try it, he found it surprisingly similar to grape and cherry flavored, if the two were combined. It really did taste sweet, so sweet in fact that he wasn't used to it. He looked at it strangely after the first spoonful as he acclimated before taking another few bites then downing it.

"…That was good, but really sweet." Yuri said in a surprised fashion.

"The reason you're hungry is because your body is crazing that energy, your body wants that right now." Conrad seemed to say so definitively what Yuri's body needed and wanted as if he had read the manual, but with that confident voice Yuri knew he just had to be right.

"Oh, really? Well I guess that makes sense. Ugh I feel dizzy again!" Yuri complained throwing himself back from a seated position on the bed to sprawled, lying back. He winced and curled toward his left arm realizing too late how stupid it was to do that. "Itai…itai…itai…"

"Yuri… you should be more careful." Conrad mentioned, helping Yuri move his arm in a less afflicting position. He looked at Yuri's face and hair. Something seemed off, he was trying to place it.

"…Ah, he cut a chunk of my hair from my bangs." Yuri mentioned, more apathetic than miffed, "I need to get my hair trimmed up anyway, so it doesn't really matter to me."

Conrad sighed; Yuri was too forgiving for his own good, for the sake of preventing people from getting any foolish ideas, the jar of Yuri's blood happened to be aboard the ship, he wasn't quite certain what they should do with it. It seemed wrong to just spill Yuri's blood but it wasn't something he could really have reintroduced into him. Conrad had hoped that Ulrich or Gunter would have a solution; well, he hoped Ulrich did as he presumed Gunter's would seem sexual in nature and psychologically damaging to him.

Ruffling Yuri's hair, Conrad stood back up.

"So dizzy…" Yuri complained as the room began spinning.

"And that is why you had a light meal, Heika."

"It's YURI. You're bullying me now, aren't you? Because of what I said earlier."

"Maybe just a little bit, Yuri."

Yuri was half-asleep, "Don't pick on me when I'm not feeling well, that's not nice."

"Ah, I apologize profusely, Yuri." Conrad said, adding in an over-dramatic bow.

Yuri laughed, with a slight smile he fell asleep, "You better be, _Sir_ Conrad Weller. Check on your brother, already."

Conrad pulled the covers down over the portholes, setting one light near the chair on for soft ambiance lighting. Closing the door soundlessly, he went searching for Wolfram. He was surprised to see the blond at the other end of the ship, he seemed pensive.

"Wolfram? What are you doing all the way out here? You should be resting too."

"How can I really face him, it's my fault that he's hurt like that. You were absolutely right and Yuri got hurt because I didn't want you tagging along on my date."

"Why didn't you want me to go?" Conrad mentioned, not as a question to himself but for his little brother to resolve internally. He knew why, jealousy, and subconsciously he probably realized Conrad was a very big, looming threat. It was the same with a wolf and a sheep-dog, though in this case the prey wasn't a sheep but instead Yuri. "You should know I am always thinking about what is best for Yuri. I'm _always_ thinking about Yuri."

Conrad was being confrontational, sure, but what happened had pissed him off and it was partly Wolfram's fault. That stubbornness was paid for in Yuri's blood, and it was an expensive debt. Because of that, he had the right to make Wolfram reel.

Wolfram lowered his head, "I don't understand how you can think of my fiancé more than I can. I was so concerned with my own petty needs, my self-importance did that." He glared at his older brother. Heat in his eyes as if he understood what Conrad said was more of a challenge than anything.

"And you want to know how to be a better man, right? It isn't easy to sacrifice for someone, but if you really love someone you do it. I decided that I'd rather go full-out then lose that person again."

"Stop it already Conrad. You think I don't know how you're eying him? He isn't Julia, I know you loved her but don't you think it's twisted to project that onto him?"

"I never said he was, he has her soul that's true, but that just means he has that kind of quality. I also know just how much it hurts to have your heart ripped out when the one person you've ever truly loved is taken from you by death. That's why I know I'd easily trade my life to stave off that pain. In contrast, being taken by a fiancé isn't so bad, but I'm not going to just hand him over. I'll make you work for it."

Wolfram glared at Conrad, the thought of competing for Yuri's love seemed rather frustrating, especially with Yuri being such a cheat and Conrad being so damn-near perfect that it was disgusting. Sure Wolfram had his model good-looks, but apparently it didn't impress Yuri too horribly much, however, Yuri practically tripped over himself when he saw Conrad work out.

"Like hell I'm going to lose to a half-blood like you." Wolfram's haughtiness seemed to restore balance, Conrad ruffled Wolfram's hair much the same as he had ruffled Yuri's.

Sure he loved his kid brother and the thought of hurting him was a bit disheartening, but he deserved to be able to be selfish in a few things, and damn it, this was one of them. He wasn't going to just hand Yuri over, no, he made that mistake of being passive about Julia, but he knew that soul's trust in and to him. He owed it to that very trusting-nature that he'd do whatever he had to for that soul and its happiness.

Conrad thought to himself that he had no intentions of losing to anyone. Not when Yuri was at sake. Not ever.

On that note, he returned to Yuri's cabin, unsurprisingly, Wolfram came right behind him, both taking their individual seats staking out territory. The odd thing was, this didn't really change his view towards his little brother, and it didn't change Wolfram's view of him, maybe the both of them were abnormally warped.

The End.

A/N time! XD Yeah, I plan on making this a starting point for a few stories, but this is basically just prepping the overall relationship that Conrad and Wolfram have going, aware of the opposition. Ultimately, though, I'm die-hard ConYuu, I actually hate YuuRam (from the anime, sorry all!) so, yeah, don't expect that ending. I'm hoping to just have some regular stories where romance isn't the focal point, gasp! (I said FOCAL point, because I love me my ConYuu pairing so it'll be hinted at, real subtle too, knowing me (subtle like getting hit in the face with a brick).

I hope you enjoyed, please R & R!


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